


What Friends Are For

by justheretobreakthings



Series: Voltron Events [15]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bullying, Childhood Friends, Fluff and Angst, Foster Kid Keith (Voltron), Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Young Hunk (Voltron), Young Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 15:18:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justheretobreakthings/pseuds/justheretobreakthings
Summary: The stuffed hippopotamus was Hunk's prized possession, and he would never let it out of his sight. That is, not until he met someone who needed it more.





	What Friends Are For

“Can I bring my hippo inside?” Hunk asked as he stepped down from the minivan and into the parking lot.

“Okay,” his mom said slowly. “But don’t lose it, and don’t let anything get spilled on it, okay?”

Hunk smiled as he hugged his prized stuffed animal to his chest. “I won’t,” he said. Of course he wouldn’t let anything happen to it. He hadn’t let the hippo out of his sight in the past three days, ever since he had won it in the county fair. He had been the only one in his family to successfully get the bouncy ball to land in the milk bottle, and his hippo stood testament to his skill. It had quickly become his most prized possession.

He followed his parents into the building, him with his arms laden only with his stuffed animal, his parents lugging boxes of ingredients and cookware. The family volunteered here about once a month, this community center that provided free lunches, in addition to coat drives in the winter and toy donations year-round. Hunk had deposited some of his own old toys into the box in the lobby last month, and by the time they had left, the donations had already been snatched up.

The family paused near the end of the parking lot to let a passenger van pass by them, a clunky old one with ‘Sunny Sands Group Home’ stamped across the side door complete with a logo of a grinning cartoon sun over a simple desertscape. Hunk watched the door slide open and a procession of kids begin to file out before he felt a light tug on his arm and remembered the current mission, and he let his parents usher him inside.

They crossed the lobby and made their way to the kitchen, where a man Hunk knew as the guy who ran this place eagerly rushed up to greet them. The staff here was always happy whenever Hunk’s family came by, especially his mom; having a professional chef in the kitchen was always a big help. His parents were swept into work immediately, leaving Hunk to hang out behind to watch and help wherever he could.

Most of the tasks needed out of the volunteers weren’t jobs that would be given to a seven-year-old like Hunk, as many of them involved ovens or sharp cooking utensils or heavy lifting. But he still always made himself useful wherever he could, with little tasks like setting out napkins and flatware at the serving table when they ran low, or helping towel-dry the dishes after they were hosed down.

Admittedly, though, the tasks grew dull quickly, and certainly didn’t keep him as busy as the other members of the volunteer staff. His boredom must have shown, because as he let a yawn escape him while scrubbing down a plate with his towel, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his dad. “Why don’t you take a little break?” his dad said. “There are some books in the break room if you want something fun to do for a while.”

“Okay!” Hunk said brightly, energy renewed as he set down his towel and grabbed his hippo up from where it had been perched on a nearby shelf of canned vegetables, waiting for him to play.

He knew his way to the break room from previous visits with his parents, so he set off, quietly humming a tune he made up as he went along. The break room was on the other side of the lobby, across from the janitorial closet, but as he approached the lobby, he slowed, stopped short by the sound of raised voices.

“You only took the spaceship because you knew I wanted it!”

“No I didn’t! And it’s a space _shuttle!”_

Hesitantly, tightening his grip on his hippo, Hunk peeked around the corner. He spotted the source of the raised voices instantly: three boys were in the lobby, on the far side near the toy donation box. One, a skinny boy with uneven black hair, looked to be about Hunk’s age. The others, a lanky boy with shaggy blond hair and a heavyset one with freckles and curls, were both a few inches taller than the first boy, probably a year or two older.

The two older boys had the black-haired one backed into the wall, and Hunk had a partially obscured view of the younger boy’s face, which was at the moment twisted into a stormy glare. Clutched against his chest was a plastic space shuttle.

“Doesn’t matter what it’s called, it was the only good toy in there!” the blond boy said. “No fair that you’re the one who gets it!”

“It was my turn to pick,” the younger boy snarled.

“Well, that breaks the rules,” said the freckle-faced boy. “The older kids are supposed to get dibs on the good toys.”

“That’s not a rule!”

“How would you know? We’ve been here longer. Give us the spaceship.”

“No.” The boy pressed himself up against the wall, yanking the space shuttle out of reach as the freckle-faced boy made a grab for it. “It’s not yours. It was my turn to – _ow!”_

He yelped out as his hair was suddenly grabbed, the blond boy having snatched a handful and yanked, hard. The small boy didn’t relinquish his grip on the shuttle, but was distracted enough by the attack that the freckled boy was able to dive into the fray, grabbing at the boy’s arms and starting to pry his fingers off of the toy.

The blond moved the hand that wasn’t tangled in the small boy’s hair up to grab his wrist and twist it away, and the shuttle finally slipped out of his hands. With a growl, the latter kicked out, catching the freckled boy in the shin. The freckled boy let out an angry yelp and lifted the toy.

Hunk squeezed his eyes shut, but he still heard the thunk as the small boy was hit in the head with the space shuttle and knocked into the wall. There was silence for a second, and then the sound of approaching footsteps. Catching his breath, Hunk pressed himself against the wall, and the two older boys walked by, neither seeming to notice him.

He let out a breath of relief before turning back to the other boy in the lobby, frowning at the sight. The boy was still up against the wall, but he had sunk down to sit on the floor. His black bangs covered his face, and he had one hand pressed against his forehead.

Cautiously Hunk stepped forward, practically tiptoeing as he approached the boy. As he got nearer, he could see that he was shaking ever so slightly, but his face was still hidden.

Hunk fully crossed the room and stared curiously down at the boy for a couple of seconds before conjuring up the nerve to speak. “Hi there,” he said.

The boy’s head shot up, his bangs partly hiding a widened gaze from striking eyes that were a peculiar shade of blue-gray that almost looked purple. His hand fell away from his forehead for a moment before he brought it back up, and in that moment, Hunk could see red smeared on his palm. The boy didn’t say anything, so Hunk decided take another turn instead. “I’m Hunk,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“… Keith?” the other boy said slowly, as if worried that wasn’t going to be the right answer.

“Keith? That’s a cool name.” It wasn’t, but Hunk had enough good manners not to say that. You were supposed to say something good when you meet a new person. At least, that’s what he’d always been taught. “How come you’re out here instead of eating the lunch?”

Keith shrugged. “I got done eating and I wanted to play with… um…” He brought his knees in closer. “Nothing.”

Hunk frowned. “Were you playing with the spaceship toy?”

“Space shuttle,” Keith corrected him.

“Oh.” Hunk rocked back and forth an inch on his heels, chewing at the inside of his cheek. Keith was looking at his feet again, not Hunk, so his bangs were back to hiding his face. It was kind of hard to talk to someone who wouldn’t look at you, but Hunk persevered. “Well, hey, maybe you can play with one of the other toys?”

“They all got taken already,” Keith said.

“By who?”

“The other kids.”

“Do you have any other toys?”

“No.”

“What about at home?”

“No, none.”

“Well, then we can see if one of the other kids wanna share!”

Keith shook his head. “They won’t.”

“Maybe they will.”

“They won’t. They don’t share with me… they don’t like me much.” Keith sighed.

Hunk tilted his head as he looked the other boy up and down. Sure, Keith seemed a little quiet, and maybe a tad grumpy, but he didn't seem like someone who was unlikeable. Certainly not like those boys who had hurt him and taken his space toy. If none of the other kids wanted to share with Keith…

He paused his train of thought to look down into his own arms. “Hey, Keith?”

Keith looked up again. “Yeah?”

“Guess what? There’s still one toy left.”

Keith frowned. “Huh?”

“Yeah.” Hunk thrust out his arms, holding the plush purple hippopotamus out to Keith. “See? This one.”

Keith’s frown only deepened as he furrowed his brow. “But… this is your toy.”

“Yeah, but I have other toys at home, and you don’t,” Hunk said brightly. “So it’s okay.”

“I – I don’t know…”

“Pretty please?” Hunk said, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.

“Why are you… giving this to me?”

“Because I don’t want you to be sad. Go ahead.” He shook the hippo up and down a little.

Keith hesitated, eyes darting between the hippo and Hunk’s face. Then, in a flash, his arms darted out and he snatched the hippo, bringing it to his chest in a tight grip like he was guarding it with his life. “It’s really okay?” he asked softly.

Hunk nodded. “Uh-huh.”

He could have sworn he saw Keith’s eyes water before he said a quiet, “Thank you.” And before Hunk even had a chance to say, “You’re welcome,” Keith had jumped back to his feet and was darting out of the lobby, hugging his new toy close all the while.

With a satisfied smile, Hunk returned to his previous quest toward the break room, and was quick to find the books his dad had mentioned. He picked one out, a nonfiction about caterpillars complete with colorful photographs, and read it front to back without interruption.

He wasn’t sure how long it took him, but once he had finished, he was satisfied with his break and ready to return to the kitchen, so he headed back, humming his tune again. He had to enter the dining hall first to reach the kitchen door, and when he entered, the hairs on his neck pricked up as he felt eyes on him. He turned to look. There off in a corner of the dining hall was his mother, who had swung around to look at him as he’d entered. She was talking to a woman Hunk didn’t recognize, one in a faded tee shirt and long ponytail, and the woman had her hand on the shoulder of Keith, who was staring down at his shoes, the stuffed hippo dangling by the leg in his hand at his side.

His mother called his name and waved him over, and Hunk obeyed, curious. Once he was at her side, the woman nudged Keith forward – or rather, shoved; it was a little too forceful to just be a nudge. “Keith,” she said, her face and voice both stern. “You have something to say to Hunk?”

Keith held the hippo out to Hunk, gaze still on the floor, and mumbled something. “What was that?” the woman said. “Speak up, Keith.”

Keith sighed and lifted his head. “I’m sorry I took your hippo.”

Hunk canted his head, confused, as he looked at the stuffed animal. “Huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Keith said again.

“Hunk,” his mom prompted behind him. “Can you say, ‘I forgive you’?”

“But he didn’t take the hippo,” Hunk said. “I gave it to him.”

The woman’s brows shot up. “You gave it to him?”

“Are you sure, Hunk?” his mom asked.

“Yeah,” Hunk said with a nod.

“You’re sure you wanted to give it to him?” the woman asked. “Keith didn’t make you give it to him, did he?”

Hunk was growing more confused by the minute, and he shook his head. “No, why would he do that?”

The woman sighed and ignored his question, turning to Hunk’s mother instead. “Well, sorry for the confusion. One of the other boys had seen your son with the hippopotamus when we came in, and we’ve had a couple of incidents in the past with Keith hiding things and not wanting to share, so – ”

“That’s all right, that’s all right,” his mom said. “As long as it’s all cleared up, I suppose – ”

“How come you said you stole it?” Hunk asked Keith. “How come you didn’t just tell them it was a present?”

“I did tell her,” Keith mumbled.

The woman pursed her lips and put her hand back on Keith’s shoulder. “Yes, well,” she said. “Keith here has a bit of a habit of telling tales, you see, to get out of trouble, so I didn’t think – ”

“Keith’s my friend,” Hunk said, glaring up at the woman. “My friends don’t tell lies.”

The woman met Hunk’s glare with a stony, thin-lipped expression of her own. “Ah,” she said. “I guess there’s always exceptions. Well then.” She cleared her throat. “I had better get back to the other boys. Again, apologies for the mix-up.”

“That’s all right,” his mother said, and the other woman turned to leave with a languid wave of her hand. “You ready to head back to the kitchen, Hunk?”

Hunk nodded, but before he took his leave, he turned to Keith. “Do you guys come here for lunch much?”

“Uh, sometimes,” Keith answered.

“Well, next time you come, you can find me in the kitchen and we can play!”

“Um…”

Hunk smiled. “It’ll be fun to have a friend around.”

Keith brought his hippo back up to his chest to hug it close. “… Yeah. Okay.”

His mother tapped his arm to start ushering him back to the kitchen and Hunk waved goodbye to Keith as he started away. “See you later, Keith!” he called.

“See you later, Hunk.”


End file.
